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Sunday, January 6, 2013

Tired As I Can Be - Bessie Jackson (Lucille Bogan)

I worked all the winter
and I worked all fall
I've got to wait till spring
to get my ashes hauled
and now I'm tired
tired as I can be
and I'm going back home
where these blues don't worry me

I'm a free-hearted woman
I let you spend my dough
and you never did win
you kept on asking for more
and now I'm tired
I ain't gonna do it no more
and when I leave you this time
you won't know where I go.

My house rent's due
they done put me out doors
and here you riding 'round here
in a V-8 Ford
I done got tired
of your low-down dirty ways
and your sister say you been dirty
dirty all a your days

I never will forget
when the times was good
I caught you standing out yonder
in the piney wood
and now I'm tired
tired as I can be
and I'm going back south
to my used to be

I mostly know Lucille Bogan as a blues singer, and looking at this text, it is fairly clearly a transcription of a blues she sang. The most remarkable thing about her songs are how blunt and honest they are. With a penchant for being vulgar, her songs are incredibly direct. The unvarnished emotional sentiment in this song is very powerful, and exemplifies what a blues song is.

For fun, Lucille Bogan being vulgar enough to make Flo-Rida blush:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ko2VXpW7_g

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About Me

I'm Chris, a recently returned traveler and former EFL teacher. I think reading poetry is one of the most important things anyone can do, and that reading slowly, and with deliberation, is a balm for the soul. With each poem I post, I provide some small analysis, which will hopefully provoke some thought. Above all, I hope that you enjoy these poems and that they come into your mind at unexpected times.

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